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Assembly of the LGarden…
Date night is no longer a leisurely dinner followed by dessert and a movie.
It’s more of a “Hmmm, mom’s got the kids, let’s sort the linen closet and assemble the LGarden……and if we have time let’s stock up on paper towels and toilet paper.”
Assembling the LGarden was fun! Tom and I enjoyed putting together this innovative raised bed. If I’m being 100% honest, I didn’t help a ton.
But I did glow on the sidelines watching this raised bed come to life!
The LGarden is quite heavy to move, (I could never do it myself). You’ll need a partner or a dolly to move the boxes to the space where you’ll assemble.
The direction booklet was simple and easy to follow. Helpful pictures will guide you every step on the way. It took us less than an hour to install.
This timeframe included installing the Craft Grower Kit and “discussing” what we’d plant in the troughs.
And factor in extra time for the kids’ involvement. When my two girls came home they were eager to “help.” You know how that goes!
An extra pair of hands is convenient to hold parts and such as you make progress.
You’ll also need some basic tools that you probably already own like a crescent wrench and a socket wrench set.
So there is some nuts and bolts assembly required. Nothing taxing or too hard. The wood composite boards don’t need to be nailed in, but rather lay inside the reinforced carriage with ease.
Kind of like an easy breezy adult puzzle!
If you so choose, after you assemble the reinforced carriage, you’ll add the Craft Grower Kit and the removable greenhouse cover.
Nothing could be simpler and easier to install than the Craft Grower Kit!
Five minutes. Poof. Installed.
Same with the greenhouse cover. But again, having an extra pairs on hands is helpful when putting it over top your LGarden.
5 things I LOVE about the LGarden
The LGarden is for growing lifers. Fashioned so incredibly well, it’s going to be around for the long haul.
Buy it in your 40’s and you’ll still be using it in your 80’s. Of this, I have zero doubt. Then pass it along to your favorite offspring as an heirloom.
2.) All the attention to detail. Time was clearly invested in creating the LGarden.
The vinyl liner that allows for optimal drainage of excess water is incredible. It also protects the LGarden’s composite wood garden bed support.
Since the wood garden support is made of composite, I wouldn’t fret about it rotting but the vinyl liner does keep it clean and less likely to pick up bacteria and fungus.
The three drainage holes in the bottom of the product are great, too. An adequate number of holes and the correct sized hole spaced correctly apart to do the job right.
You wouldn’t want the holes too small because during a big rain storm the plants would become waterlogged.
But too big of holes might drain out too much water resulting in dried out plants. These holes strike the perfect balance.
The LGarden weighs about 130 pounds. But it can safely transport up to 500 pounds of soil and plants.
So it’s essential to have these four large, scratch resistant wheels for easy mobility. Phenomenal wheels.
They “turn on a dime” for the utmost ease and agility in movement. You wouldn’t think a product this large could be moved this swiftly, but it’s true!
If you position your LGarden on a patio or deck, you can deftly move the product in or out of the sun or rain as your plants require.
Or, you may want your LGarden in a different location. Let’s say guests are coming over and you are maneuvering it around the grill/outdoor furniture.
Tom and I have a sun-room attached to our postage stamp sized patio. If we want more room on our patio for entertaining purposes, we can roll the LGarden right into the sun-room.
If a cold snap is forecasted, we can roll the LGarden into the sun-room to protect plants from frost.
And I’m saving the best for last here….you can lock the wheels. So the LGarden will not roll in high winds or on unlevel surfaces. Essential if your patio is slanted downward as many are.
Tomatoes? Yep. Your heirloom tomatoes need to be planted deep and have plenty of room to expand. Big roots to hold up those humongous tomato plants. The LGarden answers the call at 18″ deep. (This is at its deepest point).
The LGarden also gives you an astounding 52″ inches planting length and goes 27″ wide across standing 32″ off the ground.
So what a massive area to plant in! Over four feet of growing space across! Twelve square feet of gardening with room for 15 mature plants!!!
5.) Aesthetics. Easy on the eyes, the LGarden shines striking one as both sleek and modern.
Currently, the product comes in black and green and you can’t go wrong with either color. I was sent the green and find the hue just the right shade of green.
Constructed from UV resistant powder coated steel and wood composite, the LGarden could be the most unique and appealing raised garden bed I’ve stumbled upon.
The materials also help the product resist rust and wear and tear from snow and rain. Necessary if left outside year-round.
Do I plan on bringing my LGarden inside my sun-room during the winter. Yes.
If I must leave it outside will I find the most sheltered place and cover it with a tarp? Absolutely. And I would suggest you do, too! Protect your investment.
The LGarden is truly a “raised bed” in every sense of the word!
Why? Because most raised beds are only 12-24 inches off the ground. Okay for a child but what good does that do an adult?
You’ll still find yourself hunched over to plant, weed and harvest.
Not so with the LGarden! There is absolutely no need to bend down to plant or weed. None whatsoever. It’s exactly at the height where you’d be standing while you plant.
I’m 5’3″ so I’m considered petite. My husband, however, is 6’2″ and he found the height equally comfortable to work in standing upright.
The kids can even get a piece of the action by planting around the edges, although reaching in the middle is too much of a stretch for them.
So the height of 32″ off the ground is at ideal waist-high planting level. Perfect. As. Is.
And any elderly relative is absolutely going to love the dimensions of this raised bed. I would imagine one could even work from a wheelchair in the LGarden.
7 ways to customize the LGarden to really make it yours!
So with a little imagination, there are a plethora of ways to personalize your LGarden. Make it uniquely yours!
- Drip irrigation. Have you seen the drip irrigation systems specially made for raised beds and pots? This is the wave of the future, folks. Water on demand. No need to fuss over a hose. That’s so 2018.
- Grow lights/LED lights. Grow lights/LED plant grow lights come in every shape and size nowadays. Many come with clips. So attached to the top rack for seed sprouting success. My cacti are enjoying a little extra light!
- Tiny magnetic ceramic planters. So many cute little succulents and air plants in magnets these days. Where to place them? Not the fridge! I can attest that they do fall off and break. On the LGarden Craft Grower Kit, they look adorable.
- Boot tray organization. I placed a copper boot tray on the top rack to house a few plants. It’s also the place for my best garden gloves (so Tom doesn’t squeeze his hands into them) and my watering can. Small items like scoops, trowels and pruners are less likely to get lost here. And let us not forget our seed pots and plant markers.
- Illumination possibilites. String white lights around the carriage and up the trellis for the right atmosphere highlighting your LGarden. But both my sun-room and patio have electrical sockets. No sockets? How about small solar lights lined up at at the back of the base?
- For the enchanted. Into fairy gardens or miniature gardens? Add a few personalized knickknacks to increase the charm of the LGarden. Ceramic toads and frogs make it magical for me. But you do what works for you!
- Plant markers. Flimsy popsicle plant markers are no longer a thing. I’ve seen every plant marker under the sun. Copper markers to vegetable shaped markers to ones molded from slate. All gorgeous!
The Craft Grower Kit is going to extreme vertical levels
The Craft Crower Kit accessory is $160 extra and worth every penny.
Not only does the Craft Grower Kit greatly increase planting square footage but it also makes the LGarden the most aesthetically pleasing raised bed on the market.
One small caveat – The trough planters are adorable. It’s the window box “look” for your raised garden bed.
You can move them up or down depending on your garden vision. Or, they can be displayed evenly with each other.
But the coca moss inserts are a tad flimsy, very shallow and slant too forward. The length of the troughs is ideal at 24″, but I’d like them deeper and wider.
For me, the metal troughs coupled with the coco moss inserts did not work in harmony. Perhaps one solid piece would function better? Maybe with a square, upright shape?
Small herbs yes. Petunias no. Geraniums. no. The roots really have no where to expand and plants could become root-bound.
Johnny-jump-ups would be cute in these troughs. I like flowers to drape over boxes so also consider bidens, nemesia, diascia, bacopa, and “white Nancy” lamium.
With the greenhouse cover I’ll be able to start those seeds early on the removable top shelf.
When my little seedlings become plants it’s time to transplant some of them into the bottom carriage. Isn’t that great design?
My seedlings used to take up the entire space on my dining room table because it was the sunniest spot in my home. Grower flats are big!
The LGarden is truly a space saver housing my growing seeds freeing up my table.
When all the seeds have been transplanted in the base the top rack can be used for extra storage.
Bear in mind that the top shelf has many holes as the picture above depicts. Small items might fall through the cracks. Enter: boot tray!
So you might want to use a boot tray, buckets or waterproof plastic bins for storage.
Because items stored on the top shelf could get wet depending on the location of your LGarden.
If your LGarden is always exposed to the elements waterproof containers may be essential!
Time for trellis talk! The trellis feature (22″ x 51″) gets my heart fluttering every time I gaze at it.
Edible peas and vining cucumbers or pole beans climbing up that trellis? Nasturtiums winding up for a burst of color? They’re edible, too!
Black-eyed Susan vines are sure to stun, too. Or, perhaps purple and blue alternating morning glory vines meandering up the trellis.
Even a clematis isn’t out of the question!
What to plant in your all new LGarden
So dream….dream….dream.
I relish the idea of planting herbs in the two attached trough planters as part of the Craft Grower Kit. Gardening doesn’t get any cuter than this.
In the main bed, how about peppers, tomatoes, onions and a few jalepenos for a salsa themed garden?
If your LGarden will adorn your patio, I can think of nothing nicer than a butterfly garden or mosquito repellant garden. Use your LGarden to keep those pests away!
Many mosquito repellent plants also happen to be herbs~ so combine ideas by planting both in your troughs. Lemon balm, please!
And if your a real “Garden Go-Getter” plant your cool season crops in spring and switch to your warm season crops when cool crops die down. Succession planting in a raised bed!
Pansies in every hue planted in the two trough planters, strawberries and your first crop of lettuce in the base. Don’t forget sugar snap peas vining up that trellis!
Along with the rest of your cool season crops, you’ll be giving yourself a high-five if you plant 2-3 hyacinth bulbs not only for looks but scent. Intoxicating scent.
For your warm season, how about a few cherry tomatoes plants (you know those taste like candy) and basil and oregano for an Italian themed garden?
Swooning with delight yet?
Lasting thoughts…..
If you are planning a more shallow rooted garden with plants like herbs, lettuce, kale, peas and a few beans, you might want to fill the bottom with those spongy packing peanuts.
Lightweight and easy to acquire, packing peanuts will increase drainage, save you a few bucks in quality potting soil and lighten the product.
(I know I don’t need to tell you how vital it is to purchase good, quality, organic potting soil for this product~!)
Finally…how are you going to choose the color? Alas, I can’t help you! I think both colors, the black and green are stupendous.
So you’re on your own. My LGarden is green and think it’s one of the nicest shades of green I’ve ever seen. Modern, refined, beautiful.
But you can’t go wrong with black as it goes with everything.
Decisions….decisions….agonizing.
Good thing entering this contest for your chance to WIN an LGarden is an easy decision!
The LGarden is for gardening lifers, buy it for now, love it and use it forever! Enjoy!
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